Ukraine and IMF agree on new $3.9 billion support program

Saturday, October 20, 2018 11:00:34 AM

The Ukrainian authorities and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have reached an agreement on a new 14-month support economic policy under the Stand-by arrangement (SBA), which will replace the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program, which began in March 2015 and was supposed to end in March 2019.

“The new SBA, with a requested access of SDR 2.8 billion (equivalent to US$3.9 billion), will provide an anchor for the authorities’ economic policies during 2019,” said the IMF.

The agreement is subject to the approval of the fund management and its board of directors. The board meeting is expected at the end of the year, after the parliamentary approval of the government budget for 2019 in accordance with the IMF staff recommendations and an increase in household gas and heating tariffs.

Ukrainian authorities have been discussing the gas issue with the IMF. The fund insisted on raising the gas price for the population to a market level, which, according to various estimates, could range from 30% to 80%, because of rising prices in international markets.